Adjusting mechanism for locomotive driving boxes



y 1943. F. w. MARTIN 1 2,318,507

ADJUSTING MECHANISM FOR LOCOMOTIVE DRIVING BOXES Filed May 21, 1941 QIINVENTOR v ATTORNEYS Patented May 4, 1943 ADJUSTING MECHANISM FORLOCOMOTIVE DRIVING BOXES Frederick W. Martin,

Greenwich, Conn,

signor to Franklin Railway Supply Company, Inc., New York, N. Y., acorporation of New York Application May 21, 1941, Serial No. 394,503

6 Giaims.

This invention relates to the driving boxes of locomotives and isespecially concerned with the provision of an adjusting mechanism whichis 1,- particularly applicable to situations where the space availablefor the adjusting mechanism is unusually restricted or limited.

Before proceeding with a detailed description of my invention I wish topoint out that in recent years a great many locomotives have beenequipped with roller bearing driving boxes on which the frame pedestaljaws, instead of being 'apered on one side for cooperation with thei-ustomary wedge, have had the opposing faces .5 the jaws made verticaland parallel toeach ther. If it is desired to equip such locomotives"ith the customary wedge adjusting mechanism or the driving boxes,difficulty is encountered ecause it is generally impossible either tore- .rachine the face of one of the pedestal jaws or apply a taperedstrip thereto in order to secure -.he necessary taper for cooperationwith the tsual wedge.

With the foregoing in mind the specific object of my invention will bebetter appreciated, the same being the provision of an adjustingmechanism for the driving box which can be installed without thenecessity of providing a taper on the face of one of the pedestal jaws.A further object of the invention is to provide an adjusting mechanismwhich can be accommodated in a relatively restricted space while stillproviding for the necessary movements and proper positioning of theparts, the latter involving not only positioning the parts laterally ortransversely of the pedestal jaw but also maintaining them in verticalposition as will further appear.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an adjustingmechanism in which the adjustment necessary to compensate foraccumulated wear can be effected by upward movement of the wedge orcompensating member but without relative motion of such member in adirection away from the pedestal and toward the box.

How the foregoing objects and advantages are attained is illustrated ina preferred embodiment in the drawing, wherein Figure l is across-section through a driving box equipped with my improved adjustingmechanism with certain of the parts shown in elevation;

Figure 2 is a partial section on a somewhat enlarged scale taken asindicated by the line 2-2 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a partial section also on a somewhat enlarged scale taken asindicated by the line 33 in Figure 1; and

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the compensating or spring-held wedgeused in my invention with the upper portion thereof broken away andshown in section to illustrate certain details.

Examination of the figures will show that I have illustrated thelocomotive frame 5 as being provided With the pedestal jaws 6 and 1between which is housed the driving axle 8 in the roller bearing drivingbox 9. The inner face 6a of the jaw is vertical and parallel to thevertical inner face la, of the jaw I. The adjacent opposing faces of thebox 9 are also vertical and parallel as clearly shown in Figure l. Theopening at the bottom between the jaws 6 and l is closed by thecustomary pedestal binder Ill.

The adjusting mechanism comprises the floating plate I I and thecompensating plate or wedge [2. The floating plate is slightly shorterthan the distance between the top of the binder l9 and the under face ofthe frame 5 so as to provide for a small degree of clearance as at l3,which clearance permits limited up and down movements of the floatingplate H. The compensating plate I2 is provided with a suitable keyway il in the bottom into which the head of an ad justing bolt I5 is adaptedto fit in a manner well understood in this art. The lower end of thisbolt is suitably threaded into the nut l6 which cooperates with theplate or washer ll between which latter and the bottom of the cup memberI8 is provided a spring 19 of sufiicient strength to hold thecompensating plate I2 in its adjusted position under all normal orordinary load conditions. The cup-shaped member is provided with asuitable flange 29 between which and the bottom of the supportingbracket 2! an additional and heavier spring 22 is adapted to react, thelatter coming into play only after the first spring has been compressedto a certain limited extent and upon the application of more than theusual downward thrust. As wear accumulates the nut 16 is turned on thethreads of the bolt so as to readjust the spring pressure to provide forupward movement of the wedge or compensating plate to take up the wearand prevent pounding of the box. The total upward movement of the wedgefor this purpose. may be as much as 3 inches more or less in the averageinstallation. The general nature and function-' ing of the mechanismjust described are well understood in this art but are referred tobriefly because the advantages of the present invention 26 of thecompensating plate l2 correspondingly tapered so as to complement andcooperate with the face 25. This makes the floating plate II thicker atthe top than at the bottom and the compensating plate l2 thicker at thebottomthan at the top.

The compensating plate I2 is provided with flanges 21 which embrace thesides of the jaw 6 whereby the plate I2 is retained in its properposition laterally of the frame. At the top and at the other side theplate I2 is provided with the projecting flanges 28 which fit intocomplementary grooves 29 in the top' of the floating plate ll. Theseflanges 28, therefore, serve to embrace the upper portion of thefloating plate II and thereby hold it in proper transverse rela tionshipwith the other parts. The edges of the flanges 28 which face the grooves29 and the bottoms of the grooves 29 are vertical and parallel b withthe face of the box as well as with the faces of the pedestal jaws, andthe flanges 28 and grooves 29 extend downwardly toward the middle of theplate l2 where they gradually merge into the tapered faces 28 and asclearly shown in the drawing, especially Figures 1 and 4.

At the bottom of the plates 1 l and i2 just the reverse construction hasbeen adopted, i. e., the plate II is provided with projecting sideflanges 30 which fit into complementary grooves or recesses 3| in thesides of the plate 12, the adjacent faces or edges of these flanges andof their complementary grooves again being vertical and parallel to theface of the box and the faces of the jaws. The flanges 3G and thegrooves 3| extend upwardly toward the middle of the plates Where theymerge into the tapered faces 25 and 26, also as shown to best advantagein Figures 1 and-4,

As will be seen, I prefer to stop the vertical faces of the flanges andgrooves 28, 29, 3i! and 3| somewhat short of the mid portion of theplates, although this is not absolutely essential.

The driving box is provided with the customary flanges 32 which embracethe'adjusting mechanism'and the adjacent pedestal jaw. Ordinarily andespecially in roller bearing driving boxes there is considerable lateralclearance, as shown to best advantage in Figure 2, and my invention'permits the necessary movement of the parts without danger of theirgetting out of line with one'another transversely of the frame and itsjaw during operation of the locomotive. Sometimes a hardened Wear plate33 is provided on one side of the compensating plate I2 which is'adapted to cooperate with the wear pad 34 on the inner side of theflange 32.

As will be apparent, these complementary, interengaging flanges andgrooves 28, 29, 3B and 3| also serve to maintain the floating plate andthe compensating plate in their proper upright or vertical positionswhich is especially useful in boxes having a large degree of lateralclearance between the box flanges Suitable lubricant passages areprovided so,

the vertical face of the pedestal jaw and the that the moving faces maybe adequately lubri- 7g cated, there being lubricant grooves in thecontacting faces, as indicated in the drawing and as is customary inthis art.

During operation of the locomotive there is relative up and downmovement between the box and the pedestal jaws. On the upward move mentof the box the tendency is for the floating plate to relieve pressurebetween it and the compensating plate although the springs cause thecompensating plate to follow up immediately. On the downward movementthe tendency is to move thefloating plate and the compensating platedownwardly against the pressure of the springs. These alternatemovements provide relative displacement between the floating plate andthe I compensating plate and between the compensating plate and theframe, thus preventing any tendency of the parts to adhere or sticktogether. This motion, as is well understood in this art, aids inworking the lubricant down between the con tacting surfaces.

During motion of the plates which tends to separate them the flanges orlips 28 and 30 will be moved away from the bottoms of the complementarygrooves in the opposite part, but they are so constructed and arrangedas to provide for overlap suflicient to hold the floating plate inproper alignment with the compensating plate even when separated to thewidest possible degree. In addition, as wear develops and the wedge isadjusted upwardly by means of the nut l6, the flanges 28 and 30 willgradually move away from the bottoms of their complementary grooves buteven with the maximum upward adjustment they will still overlap theadjacent member sufliciently to keep the parts in proper alignmentduring all operating conditions. It is, of course, to be understood thatsome other type of interlocking or dovetailing construction might .besubstituted for the preferred form shown herein.

I wish to call especial attention to the fact that my improvedcombination of floating plate and compensating plate constitutes ineffect a two-piece wedge device which can be accommodated to situationswhere the space available is extremely limited, in which connection it,might be pointed out that if'one of the sets of flanges 28 or 30 wereextended the entire length of the plates it would be necessary to makesuch would interfere with the functioning of the device. By dividing theflanges, i. 'e., by placing a portion on one plate at one end and aportion,

on the other plate at the other end it is possible to make all portionsof greater depth and thereby ensure proper alignment of the parts evenwhen the adjusting wedge has been moved to its extreme upper position atthe time when maximum wear has accumulated.

Another marked feature of advantage incident to my two-piece wedgedevice operating between L as adjustment'for wear takesplace'. 'This,insofar as I am aware, has always been characteristic of previousadjusting mechanisms where the wedge or compensating plate operatesagainst a tapered face on the pedestal jaw. With my improvedconstruction the necessary adjustment for the purpose of taking up wearis obtained by virtue of the reaction between the taper on the floatingplate and the complementary taper on the wedge, and this without anymovement of translation of the wedge in a direction toward the box.

What I claim is:

1. In a locomotive, the combination of driving box pedestal jaws havingparallel inner faces, a driving box with parallel sides facing saidjaws, the jaws and the box being relatively movable in a verticaldirection, a floating plate adjacent a side of the box, said platehaving its box face parallel with the face of the box and its oppositeface inclined upwardly .and outwardly toward the adjacent jaw, and acompensating plate between said floating plate and the adjacent jaw,said compensating plate having its jaw face parallel to the face of thejaw and its other face oppositely tapered to cooperate with the taper onthe floating plate, the compensating plate also having flanges at itsupper end which project to embrace the floating plate and the floatingplate having flanges at its lower end which project in the oppositedirection to embrace the compensating plate.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said plates are provided withcomplementary grooves adapted to receive the opposing projectingflanges.

3. The structure of claim 1 wherein said plates are provided withcomplementary grooves adapted to receive the opposing projecting flangesand wherein the adjacent edges of said grooves and said flanges areparallel with the jaw face of the box.

4. The structure of claim 1 wherein said plates are providedwithcomplementary grooves adapted to receive the opposing projecting flangesand wherein the adjacent edges of said grooves and said flanges areparallel with the jaw face of the box and merge with the tapered facesof said plates to leave a mid portion on each plate having no projectingflanges or complementary grooves. I

5. In a locomotive having driving box pedestal jaws, the combinationwith the driving box, of a floating plate adjacent a side of the box,said plate having its box face parallel with the face of the box and itsopposite face tapered upwardly and outwardly toward the adjacent jaw,and a compensating plate between said floating plate and the adjacentjaw, said compensating plate having its jaw face parallel to the face ofthe jaw and its other face oppositely tapered to cooperate with thetaper on the floating plate, the compensating plate also having flangesat its upper end which project to embrace the floating plate and thefloating plate having flanges at its lower end which project to embracethe compensating plate.

6. A plate for a locomotive driving box adjusting mechanism, one facebeing vertical and the opposite face being inclined with respect theretowhereby the plate is thicker at one end than the other, complementaryplate embracing side flanges at the thinner end and complementary flangereceiving side grooves at the thicker end, the faces of said flanges andthe bottoms of said grooves being parallel with the vertical face andmerging in the middle region of the plate into the inclined facethereof.

FREDERICK 'W. MARTIN.

M TE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 2,518,507. May i 19%.

FREDERICK w. MARTIN It is hereb certified that error appears in theprinted specification of the above numbered patent requiring correctionas follows: Page 1, sec ond column, line 5, before the word "or" insert--plate; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with thiscorrection therein that the same may conform to the record of the casein the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 8th day of June, A. D. 19%.

Henry Van Arsdale, (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents.

